Four score and seven years ago...

We landed in Gettysburg at a horse ranch/campground and settled right in.  The kids went straight for the playground and then saw the catch and release pond.  On the way to the pond they caught a glimpse of the horse stables...which led their eyes to the pool.  Needless to say their brains didn't know what to do first but they were excited!  We talked with them about what we were about to embark on when we arrived at YWAM...hard work, long days, meeting new people, serving in any way needed, hot hot humid hot weather...they were receptive and excited to get to doing it...but...they went to the pond!  The fish were waiting to be caught and they must have caught 50 the first day.  The also caught a snapping turtle and a bullfrog that was half as long as Caleb when it was hanging.  Kamryn (aka Princess Tomboy) won the weekend fishing contest with the bass she caught.  She was fishing with someone we met and she caught a little perch.  She wanted to cast the baby perch back in and let it swim and the second it hit the water, WHAM! the bass was caught on a Frozen kid's pole and on it's way to Kamryn's hands.  We kissed it and let it go and she has a story to tell!  We also had a chance to go into "Santa's Workshop" and met a wonderful couple.  They display a house full of Christmas decorations on Saturdays and were great to talk to.

Caleb's first catch.  It was so vibrant! 

Kamryn's first catch. 

This was the small one.  He caught another that was about the size of Zachary's head when the frog was sitting. 

They loved this dock and worked so well together. 

I was the king of fish...until Kamryn caught hers!

The Queen of fish.  It was a healthy bass!

Christmas in July!

This was one of their favorite parts of the house. 

We met a nearly retired couple who had just bought a new fifth wheel and have never been camping before.  We asked for a future tour and it all went from there.  They were a great couple.  We shared a few (a million) tidbits of information about RV'ing and talked for a while.  Over the next 3 days we spent a great deal of time with them (whether they wanted us there or not).  We met their wonderful ex son-in-law, his girlfriend and the grandson and we all hung out. 

We also went into Gettysburg National Park, where we were greatly disappointed that we had to pay to get into most of the things available.  We opted out of paying and ended up doing the free stuff instead.  The kids enlisted into the Union Army and had a blast!  Zachary took Kamryn under his wing and she was SERIOUS about being a soldier in 1861.  She marched, shot straight, and never cracked a smile; it was great.  They all had a blast! The kids did their workbooks and were awarded a badge as a Jr Ranger of the Gettysburg National Park.

Falling in after being sworn in. 

Zachary did such a good job with her out there.  She was the smallest. 

See Caleb to the left in the front and Kamryn in the back with the pink short on by Zachary?  Hilarious!

She's peeking out.

This is when the Confederates were attacking and the Union Army rushed in!  um...Kamryn lost her hat...she stopped to put it back on. 

Ready for battle.

Proud of their badges.  We are proud of the history that they are learning. 

About the spot where the first shot at Gettysburg was fired which ended up being the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  51,000 troops died here in 3 days. 

This was one of my favorites. 

This was being surrounded by the tree roots.  It was one of the many unknown soldiers. 

On/about the spot where Pres Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.  In those few words, he said so much about the people that fought and the country that they were fighting for. 

 This was one of Caleb's favorite.

The end to the Battle of Gettysburg. 

We saw something pretty amazing yesterday...in front of our camper, a horse trailer pulled up.  Not to odd for a place that has horses but a young lady told me what was special about these.  She rescued them from being sent to Canada and being slaughtered and consumed for meat.  The horses/mules were so scared but so beautiful.  They came out of the trailer and went to a pen where they perked up and knew they were ok.  Then another 2 came and the largest came off of the trailer.  Immediately off the trailer, he started eating the grass on our site and went straight to the area where they were going to get checked out.  We chatted some more with the "rescuer" (her name is Megan) and learned so much more.  She welcomed us up in the morning and we let her go love on her new babies. 

They finally got the off of the trailer.  Just hours before, these animals could have had such a different outcome. 

The third.  He came right off and started eating.  It was like he knew he could relax for a bit now. 

My girls admiring a beautiful animal. (The guy is Megan's fiancée)

This morning we went up to see Megan before we headed out and she was excited to see us (she loved the kids and ended up liking us too :)   )  We were able to spend some time helping out and getting to know about some of the work that has to be done and about horses in general.  She was great with the kids and just loved all over them.   We stayed for a while and had to say bye but not before Kamryn gave her a card and $3.18.  Kamryn wanted to say thank you with a card and she "wanted to pay her" because there was a Gettysburg tour that could also be bought.  Meg slid us the money twice (Kamryn caught her once) and we took a picture, traded information, hugged and said bye.  We had such a wonderful morning and so glad and thankful that she took her time to love on us for a while. 

Caleb and his new buddy. 

So powerful but so gentle. 

Zachary riding the Clydesdale!

Caleb was being followed. 

Mommy is so happy!

Caleb led Kamryn on a walk. 

Kamryn wanted to share the treats equally. 

The kids with Megan.

After that we thought our day would be "normal" until we pulled into a rest area and saw a coach with Georgia Bulldogs all over it!  This was a family that we met on/about day 20 and talked and prayed with.  They were great and the kids played together and the adults had some great talks about our upcoming journey as they were also taking a full time RV journey for a bit.  Today, we chatted with the kids for a bit and we were on our way. 

That leads us to the campus that we are sitting on now.  Awesome history here in these old homes, the grounds are beautiful, and the people that we have met are awesome.  They welcomed us with curbside assistance, a box of food, and hands on RV parking.  The parking spot was a bit interesting to get in but I am thankful that I have had 80 days to practice parking.  We settled in, got a tour, met some people (including someone from Vancouver Island, BC) and two other families.  We gave a tour of our home and then we were off to play ping pong with the guys while the ladies chatted and the kids played.  We had a great night, we feel overly welcomed, and are totally excited to see what God has in store.  The mission here is to help local youth learn some things about fitness and work through a low obstacle course and a ropes course.  Set up to be done by teams, they help individuals build confidence, learn trust, and is intertwined with the Gospel.  We will find out more about our duties tomorrow but we know that we are ready to do His work. 

Our home.

The rest of the visible campus (aka our yard).

We sat down as a family tonight to talk about our goals while we are here and the kids really amazed me.  I truly believe their hearts are all in this and they are as excited as Kelly and I are.  Please pray for us to be filled with energy and good health and to be able to bless the socks off everyone we meet!